A heavy sigh escaped her mouth as she leaned against the wall. The weight of the world on her shoulders. The question is, which one?

It was early morning in the Leaf Village, and the Academy students were slowly filtering in through the gates, arriving in their cliques of twos and threes. It was a warm, spring day with an abundance of sunshine and fresh air. The birds, scattered across the village, sang their sweet, joyous songs and it seemed that the morning promised to be a wonderful day. Yet none of this was enough to settle Jordyn's troubled mind.

And of course she was thinking about Fairy Tail.

She slumped against the wall, enjoying the cool feeling that seeped into her body. For a moment, she felt calmer, the knot in her stomach lessened. But only for a moment.

The images of yesterday slowly fell into place until it played in her mind over and over like a film.


In the world of Fairy Tail...

The day before

After defeating Duke Everlue and retrieving the book Daybreak, the book now lay in the rightful hands of the author's son.

Unfortunately for Lucy, Natsu and Happy had rejected the reward as their client barely had a jewel to his name. And the big house he was 'living' in - rented. If this carried on, she was gonna be broke and homeless by the end of the month.

And it seemed that things just continued to get worse, when they got lost in the forest and ran into Gray. Who was obviously half naked. Looking for a bathroom.

She feared for her sanity, she really did.

After that, weird turn of events, the group now sat on the edge of a cliff, discussing their next move. To be specific, Gray was to be the thing that moved.

''Fine, I will,'' Gray huffed, standing to leave, ''and unless you want trouble you should too.''

''Why do you say that?'' Lucy asked.

An ominous feeling swept over Natsu, sending a cold chill through his body. A feeling he couldn't quite place.

''Cause Erza's due back anytime now.''

Well that explained it.

''The Erza?! Whoa,'' Lucy questioned, doubting her hearing for a minute, while Natsu went into temporary shock before sliding into depression.

''Yep, the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail,'' Happy mumbled, mouth full of fish he had just caught.

''I can't wait to meet her,'' she fangirled, hearts flying all over the place. ''But you know I've never even seen a picture of her in Sorcerer Weekly or anything. What's she like?''

That question brought nothing but painful memories. Very painful memories.

''Scary,'' both boys and cat answered, leaving Lucy slightly confused.

''Wild animal.''

''Wild beast.''

''More like a full on monster!'' Happy yelled.

It was from there that the conversation turned into a full on debate. Arguing how many mountains their monster-for-a-friend could take down in a single kick. And it was just as they were about to leave when it happened.

The attack.

A sudden blast of magic from behind left them buried in a mountain of sand.

''What now?'' Gray asked, annoyed.

''HAPPY!'' Natsu yelled through a mouthful of sand.

The poor cat was tied up to a spit above a campfire, ready to be cooked for a bunch of rogue wizards. On the menu for them, roasted blue cat with a hint of fish.

Meanwhile, in the Leaf Village

''Crap!''

''Pardon?''

Jordyn slowly opened her eyes and looked around to find Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma and Kurenai all watching her with baffled expressions. They were currently sitting in a window seat at the BBQ restaurant, Yakiniku Q, enjoying their late lunch in peace until Jordyn's sudden outburst.

"Is there a problem?" Kakashi asked, raising his one visible brow.

"Umm." How the hell did she get herself out of this one?

"I'vejustrememeberedsomethingI'vegottado. Excuse me," she mumbled quickly under her breath, her words merging together and barely audible. Jordyn swiftly rose from the table, and with a quick turn to the left, hurried to where the bathrooms were, where she could continue her brother-viewing in piece.

"And I thought I was strange!" Guy said, his loud voice louder than ever. "Do you think it's a lady problem?"

At this, Kakashi and Asuma, both modest men, jumped at their friend's words and looked around the restaurant in embarrassment, while Kurenai's cheeks burned a bright pink.

"Guy!" She snapped, signalling him to shut up. That signal flew right over his head.

"Or d'you think it's gas?! Cause, sometimes I get REALLY bad gas too if I- OUCH! Who kicked me?!"

...

In the world of Fairy Tail

''Hey! I'm serious. It's gonna make me taste funny, I just know it will,'' Happy pleaded, trying to convince his captors , that cooking a cat with a bladder full of pee was probably not a good idea. And his time was running out until a certain pink haired buddy came to his rescue.

''Hold it right there!'' came a shout from above.

The band of rogue dark wizards and Happy turned to see Natsu, Lucy and Gray standing on a cliff top above them.

''Happy!'' Lucy yelled.

''Thank goodness! Now I'm not gonna taste weird,'' Happy cried in relief, to which the leader of the wizards shushed him.

''That's our friend you're tryin' to roast buddy,'' Natsu seethed, cracking his knuckles in the anticipation of the impending fight. ''Sorry but you guys are gonna have to make other plans for dinner.''

''You're all wizards, aren't you, what guild are you with?'' Gray asked, trying to make sense of who would dare cross Fairy Tail.

''I'm not telling,'' the ogre-like leader growled in a sing-song voice. ''GET HIM!''

And with those words, everyone leapt into action and the fight began.

Gray brushed off the twins that had attacked him, while Lucy ran to the aid of the pleading Happy.

''Help!'' he wailed. ''LUCY'S gonna eat me!''

And while all this was happening, Natsu, being the hot head he was, made a beeline for the leader of the rogues. But he was only a few feet away from the guy, when suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shifted, and the massive chunks of swirling sand rose up and all around Natsu, eventually swallowing him whole and trapping him as it hung, suspended, in the air , a giant boulder of dirt.

From within the sphere, the sand darted and danced all around his form, filling his lungs, his mouth and his nose with sand. There was just sand everywhere, he could barely breathe.

'Wait for me, Happy. I'm coming!' Natsu thought, refusing to let a wall of sand stop him from saving his friend. That and the fact that he was just really pissed at all the sand that kept forcing its way into his mouth.

He closed his eyes, and closed his mouth, tight, and then with a few shallow breaths, he began to feel the fire burn within him. Starting as an ember in his gut, before growing and expanding to fill his entire body. Lava-hot heat tingled right down to his fingertips and roared in his throat, until he finally let all that fire loose, making the sphere burst open like a piƱata, and tongues of fire moved all around him. Having broken out of the sand sphere, he spat out the remnants that had harvested in his mouth.

Long story short, one fire dragon iron fist later, and they had all the wizards tied up to a tree, even though the victory was short lived as Gray and Natsu turned from fighting their enemies to fighting each other. No surprises there then.

What actually caught the attention of everyone was the half-conscious murmurings of the rogue leader.

''Lulla...''

''Huh? What's 'lulla' ?'' Lucy enquired, crouching down to hear him better.

''Lulla-by. This,'' he uttered, struggling to get the words out. But time wasn't on his side; time was running out. For travelling fast across the ground, racing towards the wizards, was a living shadow.

1,2,3.

''Lullaby?'' Gray repeated.

''Huh,'' said Natsu.

1,2,3, BAM!

''Incoming!'' yelled Happy, too little, too late as the shadow made contact and bulldozed Natsu and the others to the ground. The faces' of the wizards tied to the tree was one of absolute terror as the shadow now formed a massive hand, around the shape of the tree, and with a few pathetic uttering from the wizards, the shadow hand clenched into a fist and pulled down, forcing the tree into the ground and burying the wizards.

The shadow or rather, the 'master' behind it, had already fled the scene leaving the Fairy Tail wizards confused and only leaving one word behind.

Lullaby.


Jordyn's shoulders grew tense remembering the events of yesterday, the tight coil in her stomach had unimaginably grown tighter replaying it in her head. Her palms grew sweaty and her mouth was dry.

Lullaby.

Such a sweet word for a weapon so deadly. But why did all this drama have to happen just a few days after she left Fairy Tail. It seems this long-term mission was making her more and more anxious, and being away from Fairy Tail was proving more difficult than she initially thought.

''Hello? Are you ready?''

Jordyn's eyes flew open and she turned to see Kakashi standing in front of her, and standing beside him was a young, tanned man with a long predominant scar, running across his nose.

''Hi, the name's Iruka,'' the man introduced himself, ''Kakashi explained that you're training to be an academy teacher too.''

Jordyn turned towards Kakashi with a fake, wide grin plastered on her face. ''Really? He did, did he?'' she asked, unaware of this new information.

''Yep,'' Iruka said, ''So while you train to be a teacher, you'll be getting some experience from me. I know how hard it can be to study and stay on top of the student tuition fees as well, so hopefully this job can help you with that.''

''Well, thank you very much, I'm grateful for the job. I hope to learn a lot,'' Jordyn grinned.

''Let's not keep them waiting then.'' And with that, Jordyn pushed Fairy Tail to the back of her mind and refocused.

''You ready?'' Kakashi asked, the one eyebrow raised.

''Yeah, I guess so,'' she muttered, pushing herself off the wall and straightening her dress. It was a sleeveless knee-length kimono with thigh slits on either side and a thin piece of rope around her waist and lining the top of her dress. It was light pink with a dark purple silhouette of vines embroidered on it. She wore the dress, with dark purple leggings and blue ninja sandals to complete the outfit. It looked good. It's a shame the same couldn't be said for Kakashi's wallet.

With a final outward sigh, she straightened herself and turned to the classroom door on her left. Jordyn slid the door open and stepped through, a smile on her face, ready to embrace her new students. Ready to meet Naruto.

She had barely walked two steps into the classroom, though, when she felt something drop onto her head with a soft thud, followed by a cloud of white to announce its arrival. And very stupidly, she inhaled the dust, and felt it settle into her throat, making her cough violently. Her nose became runny, and her eyes filled with water which ran down her cheeks.

The cloud of dust continued to rain down, and all around her she could hear the whole bloody class laughing at her. She didn't see just how many kids were in the class, but just by hearing all of those voices, she could guess about thirty kids or so were all laughing at her stupidity.

''ENOUGH! I can't believe the level of disrespect in the room.''

The class fell somewhat quiet at the sound of their teacher's voice.

Jordyn brushed off the whiteboard rubber from her hair and opened her eyes to look at the kids around her. They all stared back at her with wide innocent eyes with some still smirking, albeit guiltily. Although there was one boy who stood out from the rest; a boy with a cocky air about him with a proud smile plastered ear to ear on his face.

"Do I even need to ask who would do something that stupid?" their teacher enquired, making the whole class pointedly turn their heads to look at the blond culprit.

The teacher sighed heavily - the type of sigh that meant he was repeating the same task all over again- and he marched up the stairs to where the boy sat, looking down at him with his hands placed on his hips.

"Wipe that smug look off your face, Naruto and apologize to our guest!"

"Not gonna," the boy pouted turning his face away.

"Well then, enjoy your detention after school," he said calmly, walking away, as Naruto started to protest, to the front of the classroom.

"Now everyone, this is Jordyn Lixer, and she's going to be my new teaching assistant in the classroom, albeit just temporarily."

A silence filled the room as the kids regarded their new teacher. Jordyn stood at the front grinning like an idiot, trying not to squirm under their judging gazes.

''A-any questions?''

''Why do you have a weird name?''

''Why are you a weird little boy?'' Jordyn shot back, silencing Naruto almost instantly, and setting the class cracking up again.

''Eessh, can we just get on with the lesson?'' Iruka asked, already exhausted, though the morning had barely begun.


''Alright, class dismissed.''

The kids snatched up their bags and headed out of the door, eager to get out of that stuffy classroom and hit the road home. And after staying behind to clear up their mess, Jordyn could finally do the same. Needless to say, she was a bit useless in class, seeing as she was just as clueless as the kids asking for her help, but eventually she got there in the end and managed to survive. Now there was nothing more she wanted to do than to rest her weary bones.

Out in the courtyard, there was a frenzy of parents coming to greet and collect their kids, while other children snuck off to play with their friends. All but one that is. As Jordyn's eyes scanned the area, she couldn't help but notice a child sitting by themselves on the swing under the tree. That child was Naruto. He sat all alone, watching the other kids as their parents hugged them, held their hands, heard about their child's day, and of course Naruto had no-one to tell any of this to. Just the look on his face was crushing her heart, but if anyone could change that, then she could. So, without further ado, she strode past the crowd and headed straight for Naruto who, upon seeing her coming, had surprise written all over his features.

''Naruto.''

''Lady.''

They stood there for an uncomfortable few seconds under the shade of the tree, not sure what to say to each other, until an idea popped into Jordyn's head.

''Umm..Naruto, you're kunai throwing was atrocious today.''

''Gee thanks,'' he replied dryly, ''Did you come all the way here just to insult me? If so, then just buzz off, I'm kinda busy here.''

Deciding to brush off his comments, she carried on. ''I, actually, came here to offer you kunai practice after school tomorrow. And, if you need help with anything else then we can go over that too.''

If he wasn't surprised by her appearance before, he was certainly stunned by her offer.

''Well, umm, thanks, I-''

''You're giving free lessons to all the kids?''

Jordyn turned around to see the source of the voice; a woman with brown hair and amazing dark green eyes, with a young pink haired girl standing behind her.

''Uhh, actually-''

''Free tuition? These three could really use it.''

A band of three fathers and their kids stood behind her now; a blonde girl, a black haired boy and a chubby little kid. And a whole band of parents were circling around her, all asking for the same thing.

''Yes, I'm holding tuition tomorrow after school for anyone who needs it,'' she said wearily, dreading teaching all those kids by herself, and eager to get rid of the parents.

''Okay.'' ''Great.'' ''Thanks.'' ''Finally, some more help.''

There was a number of murmurs and thanks as the crowd started to dissipate, all heading home for the evening, unaware of the trouble they had left Jordyn in.

''So, Naruto, what do you say? Everybody else seems to be on board,'' she grinned, hoping that she could encourage him somehow.

He sat on the swing for a moment, seeming to mull over the decision. ''Hmmm, do I get free ramen if I say yes?''

''You get an education.''

''Bleurgh,'' he said, sticking out his tongue at her before leaping off the swing. The sun had started to set, smearing the sky with streaks of orange and red and soft highlights of yellow.

''Come on, Naruto, I'll walk you home seeing as its so dark.''

''Could we stop for ramen too?!'' he yelled, excited.

''Well, we'll see,'' she grinned, sauntering toward the gate, with Naruto close on her heels. They walked side by side, as Naruto led the way to his house, both enjoying the company of each other, and occasionally making small talk. It was only when they walked by the river that Naruto grew silent. Jordyn turned her head to see what had silenced Naruto, and found a small boy, around Naruto's age, sitting on the little wooden pier. She recognised him from class today.

''A friend of yours?'' she asked, and at that exact moment the boy turned and glared at them, his dark eyes pinpointed on Naruto, who in exchange, glowered at the boy before stomping off in a huff, leaving Jordyn to trail after him confused.

''Naruto, what was that about? What's his problem anyway?''

Naruto walked on ahead of her in silence, arms crossed behind his head. For a while, it didn't seem like he was going to answer. Until, he did.

''His name is Sasuke, he's a kid who's 'top of the class' and the one that I am going to surpass one day. And his problem is...'' He trailed off after that, unsure of what to say next, trying to form the words in his head. Upon seeing this, Jordyn placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder, turning him round so that he was facing her. Finally, he spoke.

''His problem is, everyone in his clan was killed by his older brother, and he's the only one who survived. So, he's all alone. Like me,'' he said, adding the last part with a look of painful empathy on his face, his blue eyes big and earnest.

Jordyn hadn't seen that coming, at all. She opened her mouth a few times, trying to choose the right thing to say that would make sense, but she couldn't think of anything. Instead, she engulfed Naruto in a crushing hug, pulling him into her chest.

''Umm, I can't weally breef,'' he mumbled through a mouthful of cloth. And with that, she released him from her death grip, and grabbed hold of his hand, smiling down at him warmly.

''Hungry?'' she asked, hiding her shock and disbelief behind her smile.

Naruto looked at her, confusion passing over his face, until he smiled back at her, squeezed her hand, and pulled her towards the ramen shop, and away from Sasuke, the boy without a clan.